What Is Zoning?

The authority of governments to enforce zoning regulations was upheld by the Supreme Court in 1926 in the landmark case of Village of Euclid, Ohio v. Ambler Realty. Since then, almost every major city has adopted a zoning code. Zoning regulates land use, including the size, shape and permitted uses of lots and structures. Zoning dictates where people live and where they work. It controls the size of our houses and the location of stores. In most cities, it is the primary tool that guides land use.

Local governments in Illinois are granted extensive powers from the state via home rule ordinances. One of those powers is to create and enforce regulations that promote public safety, health and general welfare. This regulatory authority, called the police power, is the basis of the city of Chicago's authority to regulate land use and carry out other functions like animal control and health regulations that help the city maintain safe, clean and economically successful communities.

Master planning isn't the same as zoning, although the two should reinforce each other. Master planning is the process by which a community determines how it wants to look in the future. Comprehensive plans result in a statement of the goals and objectives for the community while zoning is the regulation of land use to meet the goals of the master plan.

A good master plan will address the Strengths and Weaknesses of the area, as well as the Opportunities and Threats presented to it (also known as SWOT analysis). Strengths include currently successful elements of a community (e.g., reliable transit service, good schools). Weaknesses are what the community is currently lacking (e.g., adequate park space). Opportunities include outside factors which could work in the community's favor (e.g.,redevelopment of parking lots near transit stations or available loan pools for small businesses). Threats are outside factors which could hurt the community (e.g., a zoning code that doesn't encourage good development). The plan should include goals and a broad outline of how to achieve those goals. The plan is then implemented through the zoning code.

Zoning can preserve natural features, promote infill development and mixed-use development, minimize dependence on the car, provide public community spaces and otherwise help make cities and towns more livable.

Uncoordinated development at the suburban fringe can permanently destroy farmland and wildlife habitats and exacerbate traffic gridlock. Regional and local policies to promote infill development and discourage greenfield development can direct new jobs and housing to mature communities that have the necessary infrastructure to support them. Zoning, for instance, can prohibit new development on certain parcels and encourage more compact development on others.

Zoning must also consider the market demand for land uses, since a zoning map essentially allocates the amount of land available for industry, commerce and housing within the city. The zoning code should have the flexibility to adapt to changes in the market's demand for space. For instance, many warehouses near the Loop were zoned Commercial, which allowed them to be converted to housing as market conditions changed. Similar warehouses in Manufacturing districts could not be converted and were abandoned.

Zoning will rarely be the only sensible growth tool communities use, but it can help communities reach their land-use goals when combined with effective planning.

Zoning is not a panacea for all of a city's land use woes. Indeed, overly restrictive zoning can lead to many problems, from enforcement problems to a stagnant development climate and economic decline. One common (and illegal) use of overly restrictive zoning is to discriminate against certain groups of people. "Exclusionary zoning" can reinforce racial and economic segregation by making housing more expensive. In areas such as Chicago that have high land costs, large minimum lot sizes push the cost of housing past the reach of many working families. The Supreme Court ruled in NAACP vs. Township of Mt. Laurel and in subsequent cases that a city cannot adopt a zoning code that has the effect of preventing an entire economic class of people from moving into that city. Furthermore, a court can throw out any zoning law that it finds "arbitrary and unreasonable," since such laws violate Americans' constitutional rights to due process and equal protection under the law. For instance, some courts have found cities' attempts to regulate architecture "arbitrary and unreasonable" exercises of municipal power.

Many cities are zoned for more development than currently exists. Developing that land to its full zoned potential could lead to congestion, overcrowding and other problems. Chicago, for instance, has plenty of room to grow. If all of Chicago's 60,000 vacant lots were developed as housing at current densities, the city could house 289,979 additional people. If those same lots were developed for industrial uses, those vacant lots could accommodate businesses employing 1.2 million workers. However, industrial growth in the city currently amounts to only 3,725 new jobs each year. These statistics don't even take into consideration the fact that many existing buildings are within zoning districts that allow much larger buildings; if the entire city were built to the limits of the zoning code, the city's population could be far larger than it currently is.

Many accuse the city's current zoning code of "over-zoning" much of the city for inappropriate high-rise development. Many of the changes to the zoning code made since 1957 have focused on "down-zoning" parts of the city decrease the intensity of allowed development. Over-zoning tends to concentrate growth in more desirable areas while starving other areas of investment. Under-zoning, on the other hand, can contribute to gentrification, high housing prices and low-density greenfield development. Careful deliberation can strike a balance between the two.

There are several different types of zoning. The two most common are called Euclidean Zoning (named after the Village of Euclid, Ohio) and Performance Zoning. Under conventional Euclidean Zoning, the government creates zoning districts defined by the land uses and densities that are allowed within each.

Performance zoning allows for more flexibility. The government sets "performance standards" for each district and allows developers wide latitude in how their buildings will be designed and used. The standards usually affect traffic flow, density, noise and access to light and air. Developers can build almost any building that meets the performance standards for that district.

Many cities also have provisions in their zoning codes that allow the city to review and approve developments that may not conform to the zoning code. Since the development's approval is granted at the discretion of the city, such arrangements are sometimes called discretionary approval. Development proposals that vary only slightly from the zoning code may be approved with allowed variances or exceptions from the zoning code; a larger development may be approved by the city as a Planned Development.

Many zoning codes, including Chicago's, use a combination of these two approaches to land use control. Most of our land is categorized under a Euclidean system, but the city also has performance standards to govern manufacturing districts and planned developments and reviews some developments (like planned developments) through discretionary approval processes.

The City of Chicago is divided into four types of districts and many sub-districts: residential, business, commercial, and manufacturing. Primary regulations within each district include, but are not limited to lot sizes, setbacks, number of off-street parking spaces and permitted uses of the building. The city can - and does - limit certain uses to specified areas. The City regulates building heights in only a few sub-districts, but was one of the first cities to regulate floor to area ratios (FARs) - the ratio of the building's floor area to its lot size. Standard allowable FARs in Chicago range from .5 to 16, although special exceptions can easily double the FAR. When the zoning ordinance was passed in 1957, many architects wanted to build tall buildings surrounded by lots of green space; by limiting FAR but not height, the city allowed many 16-story buildings to be built in three-flat areas.

The permitted uses of buildings vary by zoning district. For example, the permitted uses in neighborhood shopping districts are different from those permitted in the Loop; stores like ticket agencies and recording studios aren't allowed in the neighborhoods but are allowed in the Loop. The code also provides for special districts and planned districts to meet needs that aren't addressed in the general districts. Other regulations in the code affect sign placement and size, location and number of truck loading docks and how much landscaping is required around parking lots. Another section of the zoning code describes how older buildings which don't fit the current zoning code can be used or adapted to meet the code.

Three primary government bodies are involved in Chicago zoning decisions. The Department of Planning and Development is responsible for preparing land use plans for the city and reviewing plans for large developments. This department proposes all land use laws, such as changes to the zoning code. The Department of Zoning enforces the zoning laws, mainly through plan approval and inspections. The final key department is the City Council, which must approve all changes to the zoning ordinance. The council traditionally has given individual Aldermen great discretion in "ward matters" like zoning.

Other parties involved in zoning are developers, homeowners and community associations. Successful administration of the zoning code depends on the cooperation of these groups. The city can't investigate every properties to ensure compliance, so it relies in part on complaints from private parties to pursue zoning problems.

The zoning ordinance is the most important of the many tools the city uses to regulate land use. When a development is proposed, it must comply with all applicable ordinances. Some of these ordinances apply only to certain districts, but others are "overlay" ordinances that apply in addition to the original 1957 zoning ordinance.

ORDINANCE	REGULATES
Landmark Ordinance (1968)	Protects historic areas and buildings
Landscape Ordinance	Requires the placement of trees, flowers and fences along sidewalks and outdoor parking lots
Lake Michigan and Chicago Lakefront Protection Ordinance (1973)	Details overlay regulations for land near the lake.
Condominium Ordinance (1977)	Prescribes the rights and responsibilities of condominium owners
Adult Use Ordinance (1977)	Creates additional zoning regulations on signage and siting for adult businesses
Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance (1986)	Regulates relations between landlords and tenants
Planned Manufacturing Ordinance (1988)	Designates special manufacturing districts subject to additional city regulation
Off-Street Parking and Loading	Details regulations that apply to parking lots and loading docks throughout the city
Special Districts	Create additional zoning rules (like height limits and setbacks) that apply to certain areas, as designated by the City Council
Drive-through and Parking Lot Standards (1998)	Regulates the placement of parking lots and drive-through businesses in business districts
Open Space Impact Fee Ordinance (1998)	Charges developers a fee on each new unit of housing to pay for new parks
Townhouse Standards (1998)	Creates additional rules that apply to the urban design of townhouses and three-flats
Other provisions of the City of Chicago Municipal Code	Issue business licenses, liquor licenses, building permits

This section has provided a general description of the zoning process. Unfortunately, the zoning process is far more complex than this introduction might imply. Each zoning classification has its own regulations, which are summarized in sections 4 through 7.

1 This calculation assumes an average density of .002 jobs/square foot based on the 1995 employment and demand statistics contained in City of Chicago Industrial Market and Strategic Analysis, prepared by Arthur Andersen LLP for City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development, 1998, Table 23.

2 INTRODUCTION TO THE ZONING CODE